Tom Ince walked away from Liverpool, spurned Inter Milan and Monaco, felt he had outgrown England’s Under-21s and was a phone call away from returning to Anfield. Yet as he sits at Huddersfield’s training ground considering those tough choices one emotion stands out. Vindication.

With opportunities to thrive at elite clubs restricted, Ince recognised England’s most highly-rated young players are in danger of forming a lost rather than golden generation.

So he left Liverpool as a teenager, joining Blackpool in the Championship, believing he would work his way up after a perceived step down.

“If you are a young player waiting for a chance at a top club, what do you do?” asks Ince. “Stay in the top facility, enjoying all the best travel, wearing all the best sports gear?

“Or do you say I am going to be brave and step away even if that means going to League One or the Championship?

“Harry Kane is the prime example. He went on loan, went back to Tottenham and the rest is history. Credit to him. When people saw him at Norwich or Leicester, who saw his next step? He backed himself and now people forget the doubts they might have had. I think more are seeing it that way. Look at Tammy Abraham and Nathaniel Chalobah. They have done the right thing for their career by leaving Chelsea.

Harry Kane is now England's No 1Credit:
GETTY IMAGES

“My dream was to play at Anfield but I could not waste time feeling my way was blocked. You have to take decisions and do what is best for your career. I did not want to leave. I was training with the first team. But I needed to go and show what I was about.

“I had been to Notts County on loan and that was the eye opener. It was League One, but it was the atmosphere and feeling of playing against grown men who are doing this because it is their life, to put food on the table. I was 18, playing in front of 10,000 or 15,000 who have paid to watch you. It was better than playing in front of 20 or 30 fans in a reserve game. There is no sense of reward, inspiration or even motivation if you do not have that game at 3pm on a Saturday to look forward to. I did not want to go back to that.”

The debate about development football is particularly relevant at Huddersfield, where the club has scrapped academy age groups Under-16 to direct focus solely on raising the standards between Under-18 to 23 level. Ince knows from experience this is the problem area.

“Reserve football is not what it used to be. It’s the young lads rather than older professionals coming back from injury or suspension. There used to be more competition to it,” says Ince.

Tom Ince (left) playing for Derby CountyCredit:
GETTY IMAGES

“Young lads have to look at it and ask do I waste my time and hope, or do I take the initiative at 18 or 19 where I have to get experience because reserve team football does not prepare you for anything? You can play 100 reserve games and not have a clue what has hit you after one Championship game. If there is no entry into the first team, back yourself at a club where you will play and then you have plenty of time to get back to that highest level. The alternative is you will get to 23 or 24 and think ‘what was I doing all those years?’

“People always say ‘how can the FA help, how can the Premier League help’, but it comes down to the player. Do you back yourself to get to where you want to be in four years? Go and get first-team football at the highest level you can, open your eyes and make brave decisions. It might seem at first you are thinking ‘what am I doing here, giving up a position at an Academy at a big club where it is all rosy?’ But down the line you will get to where you want to be. It is a tough call, though.”

Ince feels similarly about England. He was a regular for the Under-21s but felt selection as an over-age player in 2015 was counter-productive. He pulled out of that year’s Euro Championships.

Tom Ince (right) with England U21sCredit:
PA

“You have the Under-21s and the bridge to the first team, but there is a limbo period with that next step,” he says. “You need to show you can do it at elite level. Germany and Spain are so good because it seems their whole system through the Under-17s to the senior side blends. England are trying that now, which is the right way.

“At that time I had already been to two tournaments, was 23 - 18 months older than most of the group - and I felt I needed a summer break and to consider my next career move. I did not turn down my country - you think my dad would let me do that? I just felt stuck in that limbo where I had to progress to a higher level.

“England’s Under-20s have done fantastic things but who is playing for their clubs? The England youth set-up has been really successful this year, but it must be frustrating for so many of those lads they are not getting regular football. A lot of them must be thinking ‘what do I do?’ You get success, you feel confident and you want more, but it is not easy. It does not just need bravery from the players, but managers. But managers are sceptical.”

“He made it difficult and they would not let me go. That was disappointing because I felt I would have been given a chance under Brendan Rodgers.

“When Inter were interested in me I stood in the San Siro and the English boy inside me told me to go to the Premier League.”

A move to Crystal Palace and Hull - when they were in the top flight - proved unsatisfactory.

“I had a taste of the Premier League with six months at Crystal Palace but it did not work out. Tony Pulis played a different way and I did not suit it,” he says. “At Hull it was similar. I started the first few games but then the manager went a different way.”

At Huddersfield, Ince has the chance he has worked for, with a manager he feels suited to his style.

“David Wagner is unique. He is detailed and thorough and you see the Dortmund way in him,” says Ince. “He wants entertainment and excitement and players to enjoy the game and express themselves. It’s a fantastic atmosphere around the squad. We are here to prove ourselves. Our objective is to stay in the league. The Tottenham game was an eye opener but it shows the level we are at. But we will give it a go and maybe games like that we just have to take it and move on. We will hurt a lot of teams.”

In a week when Gareth Southgate’s lack of options were again exposed, Ince says every English player in the Premier League has extra motivation in a World Cup season.

“You always have to have that dream,” he said. “The Premier League gives you the profile. There are a lot of youngsters in our squad, not just me. We have Tommy Smith at full-back who can impress this season. Why shouldn’t we have the dream? It would be stupid not to.”